Movin' On Up

We have finally left our teeny apartment, and moved into the house!  It was a lot of work, but was well worth it to get out of the apartment.  Being that our shipment did NOT include any furniture, the four bedroom house is quite empty.  The house does however have four half-baths, which I guess equals 2 baths?  Either way, we're more than happy to not have to deal with a "shoilet" anymore.  We did, however, head to our local IKEA to outfit the master bedroom, so we wouldn't have to sleep on the floor.  The company car provided is a Ford Focus Hatchback, and I'm told that it is a step up from Mike's Corvette.  He doesn't agree.  This isn't exactly an SUV, but is actually quite roomy for European standards.  See below as to just how roomy it is, after our IKEA shopping spree.

Since we are now in our new house, we are learning many new things, such as the garbage/recycling system.  As trash has accumulated, it was time to buy trash bags.  I went to the local grocery store, and after about an hour of looking, found none and return home, tail between my legs.  I had to reset myself back at the house to avoid a grocery store meltdown.  I knew that we couldn't just let the garbage just build up, so I went back to the grocery store determined to find the garbage bags!!!  After another hour of searching, I found these endangered garbage bags.  The sweet success of discovering the location of the bags was tainted by the complexity of the garbage bag system:  brown, blue, white, black, each in varying sizes.  I had heard something of the garbage and recyling color system, but I didn't know that I needed a master of science in garbagocity, to figure it out.  So I bought each kind and spent about $25 for 25 garbage & recycling bags.  I'm hoping there's some sort of tax built in to this, otherwise Mike and I are going to start a garbage bag manufacturing company... seems to be a healthy margin.  

Here's our new address, for anyone who wants to write or visit:

Kardinaal Mercierlaan 21

B-3001 Leuven

Belgium

We will not have internet access at our house until Monday, so we will be out of contact until then.  Also, next week, I will post all of our pictures for the month of April on my facebook page, if any of you facebooker's are interested in seeing them.

House, Brussels, etc...

For those of you who have not yet heard... We have finally picked out our home for the next couple of years and will get the keys tomorrow!!! We are very excited because it is a bigger place than we anticipated renting and the location is great! Just a short 15 minute stroll to the center of Leuven... :) We are the brown building that Mike and Rylee are posing in front of!

Also, since we received our air shipment last Friday, our small apartment seemed to get smaller and well, let's just say that Rylee will be glad to have more space in our new home... her own space!

     

This past weekend we went to Brussels and visited the Grand Place and the "Manneken Pis," which in Dutch means the "little pee man." The Manneken Pis is a small bronze fountain sculpture of a little boy urinating.  Apparently they will frequently dress this statue up in various costumes and will occasionally hook him up to kegs of beer so he will... you know... pee the beer! Yum! ;) Only in Belgium... 

    

The weather here has been great and the trees are blooming, as are the tulips.  We are really enjoying this opportunity and I still can't believe that I get to live here!!! What a blessing...

Koeln

On Sunday morning, we packed our bags and Rylee and headed to Koeln, Germany to visit Mike's Aunt Christa, Uncle Adi, his cousin Nathalie, her boyfriend Thomas, and their dog Charly. We had a great time, ate wonderful food, spent time with some super-hosts, Mike had some Koelsch beer, and Rylee was spoiled beyond belief! So much so, that we now have to hand feed her while she is lying down to get her to eat her food. 

 

The Laundry Mat and Belgian Homes

The other day I went to the laundry mat to wash some clothes... of course I didn't think this would be a problem at all, but I don't speak Dutch, so EVERYTHING is a problem! It turns out that I didn't actually wash the clothes in soap, but instead, they were washed in fabric softener.  So, our clothes aren't really clean, but they are pretty soft and I think they smell alright!

This weekend we started our house hunting project and we have learned some super-bizarre things about Belgian homes! First, whenever you rent a place, you are responsible for supplying your own light fixtures and blinds.  Also, very few homes have Air Conditioning, which is not too bad because it doesn't usually get too hot.  Another peculiarity is that there are not any closets in the bed rooms! NO CLOSETS! Where do people put their clothes, their shoes, their purses????? I don't get it! However, all of these things are just things that us stupid foreigners need to get used to... and we will! At least the shower and toilet are separate! 

We are finding our way with the restaurants in town and Mike says the beers are REALLY good here!

I, on the other hand am enjoying the water... which costs more than the beer! ;)

The Grocery Store and Vet

I decided to go to the grocery store today, as we were running low on snacks in our miniature apartment.  I found it fascinating that as I was checking out, the cashier was sitting in a cozy chair and all she did was merely scan the items.  Oddly enough, you have to bring your own grocery sacks to store and then pack up your own groceries.  In the event that you don't have a sack, you must buy one! In certain grocery stores, you have to even weigh your own produce... which left us wondering... What are these cashiers getting paid to do??

On the walk home from the grocery store, I stopped to take this picture of the Ladeuzeplein, and the University Library.  There is a 75-foot needle with a bug on it, and they say this "perfectly captures the spirit of the city and university of Leuven."  I don't really know what that means... it's kinda creepy to me, but interesting at the same time.    

This evening we had to take Rylee to the vet.  What an experience! We're still not sure if we ever saw a doctor.  First of all, the hours that this vet hospital is open is from 9-10AM and 5-7:30PM! We showed up without an appointment and Mike went to talk to the "receptionist" while I waited in the waiting room with Rylee.  About 30 minutes later, this "receptionist" took us back to an examination room and had Mike pick up Rylee to put her on the exam table.  He then examined her while Mike held her.  We then were asked to go to a different building where this "receptionist" appeared with clippers and asked Mike to put her up on the exam table and hold her front, while I held her back legs.  He then proceeded to shave her belly and give her an ultrasound... never finding out what was actually wrong with her.  The "receptionist," well maybe "doctor," then sent us home with antibiotics for her.  Hopefully that will work! This is only after paying 42 euros with no documentation of Rylee's records and no receipt or documentation of service, but the medicine was free.  Maybe pets have socialized medicine too here in Belgium?

Below is a picture of Mike at a Thai Restaurant we ate at... I guess this was some sort of rice patty... didn't do much for me! The other picture is of the sunset while we were taking Rylee on her evening walk.

    

First 48 Hours...

So after a busy week of trying to accomplish everything before leaving (THANK YOU MOM!), I finally arrived to Europe! My dog Rylee and I flew directly from DFW to Frankfurt, Germany so Rylee would only have to be in the crate for 12 hours and Mike picked us up there.  From Frankfurt, we drove to Leuven, Belgium, going through a total of three countries: Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium.  Upon arriving to our miniature apartment, we went for a long walk around the city of Leuven.  I was exhausted... and Mike wouldn't let me sleep, even though I was delirious at times, as I was seven hours ahead of Texas time.  The city of Leuven is amazing! The buildings are super-old, it is a young person's town (it's a University town), and there are bars EVERYWHERE! Everyone speaks Flemish, a dialect of Dutch, and I am desperately trying to learn something... fast! Most people smoke like it is good for them, and many roll their own cigarettes or use a hookah.  We are right in the center of Leuven for now and there are so many cool things just a short walk away.  Sunday was a day of napping and trying to take in the city.  Rylee is getting accustomed to living here and we are just hoping we don't get kicked out of our apartment because of her! The oddest thing I've encountered here is the fact that our toilet is LITERALLY in our shower... guess that is a good thing if you are into multi-tasking!